Scott Wilkinson
July 10th, 2014, 07:46 AM
I've been pondering the viability of launching a business (developing it over time, of course) based exclusively on aerial videography. I think there are at least a few people here already doing this? (Or perhaps you know someone who is?)
As I look across the landscape, I see two things happening:
First, everyone and their brother and uncle and cousin are buying low-end quadcopters like the Phantom. Not a week passes when I don't hear about someone buying a Phantom—and not even for serious work, just as an expensive toy. So there's a huge proliferation of these things happening fast.
At the same time, videographers everywhere are rushing out to buy Phantoms as well. Many of us seem to think (perhaps rightly) that we can't stay current and competitive without being able to offer this service to clients. And so far, clients are eating it up. (What client isn't blown away with decent aerial photos of their operations—much less video?)
So what I'm pondering is...will the fact that soon everyone will own inexpensive quadcopters make it much more difficult for serious aerial videographers (with bigger rigs and better cameras)?
Put differently, if all most people want is a nice aerial view of _________, and they can get that through a local wedding videographer who owns a Phantom, is that what the market will bear but no more?
---
I do realize there is a significant quality difference between what you can do with a Phantom...and what you can do with a big octocopter carrying a DSLR (or better camera). I also realize that there is a big difference between actually *flying* a multicopter...and just flying straight up, hovering around a bit, and coming straight down (which let's face it, is what 90% of Phantom owners do).
What I'm thinking can best be summarized in the following (crude) graph...
http://goo.gl/AhU4IL?gdriveurl
So the idea is that most clients are blown away by what you can show them with a Phantom; they'll be far less blown away by what you show them from an S1000 and a DSLR (even though we know the actual quality is far superior).
Can an aerial videography business survive in that narrow wedge near the top of the graph? Especially assuming that many clients will already be thrilled by what some random guy (maybe an employee, maybe an employee's brother) shows them he did with his Phantom, "just for fun?"
Scott
EDITED TO ADD: I didn't mention it specifically above, but I *do* realize that learning how to REALLY fly a multicopter takes a ton of practice—likely hundreds of hours or more. But my graph above suggests that the biggest gains can be had by simply flying straight up, shooting a bit while hovering, and flying straight down. I suspect that actually being able to maneuver in 3-dimensional space (and over distance) with authority could potentially blow clients away even more—and this strikes me as being the biggest differentiator a dedicated aerial video pro could offer...IF that pro is willing to put in the hundreds of hours it takes to fly one of these in your sleep without ever crashing. :)
As I look across the landscape, I see two things happening:
First, everyone and their brother and uncle and cousin are buying low-end quadcopters like the Phantom. Not a week passes when I don't hear about someone buying a Phantom—and not even for serious work, just as an expensive toy. So there's a huge proliferation of these things happening fast.
At the same time, videographers everywhere are rushing out to buy Phantoms as well. Many of us seem to think (perhaps rightly) that we can't stay current and competitive without being able to offer this service to clients. And so far, clients are eating it up. (What client isn't blown away with decent aerial photos of their operations—much less video?)
So what I'm pondering is...will the fact that soon everyone will own inexpensive quadcopters make it much more difficult for serious aerial videographers (with bigger rigs and better cameras)?
Put differently, if all most people want is a nice aerial view of _________, and they can get that through a local wedding videographer who owns a Phantom, is that what the market will bear but no more?
---
I do realize there is a significant quality difference between what you can do with a Phantom...and what you can do with a big octocopter carrying a DSLR (or better camera). I also realize that there is a big difference between actually *flying* a multicopter...and just flying straight up, hovering around a bit, and coming straight down (which let's face it, is what 90% of Phantom owners do).
What I'm thinking can best be summarized in the following (crude) graph...
http://goo.gl/AhU4IL?gdriveurl
So the idea is that most clients are blown away by what you can show them with a Phantom; they'll be far less blown away by what you show them from an S1000 and a DSLR (even though we know the actual quality is far superior).
Can an aerial videography business survive in that narrow wedge near the top of the graph? Especially assuming that many clients will already be thrilled by what some random guy (maybe an employee, maybe an employee's brother) shows them he did with his Phantom, "just for fun?"
Scott
EDITED TO ADD: I didn't mention it specifically above, but I *do* realize that learning how to REALLY fly a multicopter takes a ton of practice—likely hundreds of hours or more. But my graph above suggests that the biggest gains can be had by simply flying straight up, shooting a bit while hovering, and flying straight down. I suspect that actually being able to maneuver in 3-dimensional space (and over distance) with authority could potentially blow clients away even more—and this strikes me as being the biggest differentiator a dedicated aerial video pro could offer...IF that pro is willing to put in the hundreds of hours it takes to fly one of these in your sleep without ever crashing. :)